Mrs Gray invited members of the ATLAS group from Lisburn as her guests to the INSPIRE event at Titanic building.

A spokesperson from the ATLAS group commented: “We found the event uplifting and inspiring and thank Cllr Janet Gray for her kind invitation.”

Speaking about the events Mrs Gray said: “I was delighted to speak at the at the Titanic Centre, to celebrate International Womens Day.

“It was great to see so many young ladies from Northern Ireland schools and colleges having the opportunity to listen to and meet with Influential and successful women from Northern Ireland and further afield.”

Mrs Hale hosted the Engineering Training Council, 'Women into STEM' event at Stormont and was pleased to welcome back girls from Victoria College,

For a second year Mrs Hale hosted the Engineering Training Council, ‘Women into STEM’ event at Stormont and was pleased to welcome back girls from Victoria College, Belfast.

She commented: “It was indeed an honour and a privilege to be able to celebrate the Women into STEM and in the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Services sector.

“Having worked closely with senior representatives from ETC, I am confident that the campaign to increase awareness around gender inequality in the work place and increase gender diversity initiatives will be very successful as they strive to provide Gender Diversity initiatives.”

Mrs Hale added: “Over the last three years I have been supporting ETC as we have consistently lobbied and questioned the Minister for Employment and Learning on the need to re-address the gender imbalance within the engineering sector and further afield.

“I have welcomed the support of the Minister Farry in this area but I again re-emphasise that small and medium sized businesses need to see financial commitment from his Department to help change infrastructure, not just promotional campaigns.”

Demand for skills is growing rapidly and if we are to compete for business in international markets we will require greater investment in apprenticeship programmes which combine practical skills and academic training, which engages both women and men together.”